VOICE OF DETROIT: The city's independent newspaper, unbossed and unbought

 

Aiyana Stanley Jones

Gov. Rick Snyder

The following letter was sent by Roland Lawrence, chair of the Justice for Aiyana Jones Committee, to the UM Board of Regents; it also calls for city-wide observations in commemoration of Aiyana’ death on May 16, the one-year anniversary.

March 18, 2011

Board of Regents, University of Michigan:

Julia Donovan Darlow, Laurence B. Deitch, Denise Ilitch, Olivia P. Maynard, Andrea Fischer Newman, Andrew C. Richner, S. Martin Taylor, Katherine E. White Mary Sue Coleman (ex officio) President, University of Michigan

The University of Michigan, 2074 Fleming Building, Ann Arbor, MI 48109-1340 

Dear Regents of the University of Michigan:

In the early morning hours of May 16, 2010, the Detroit Police Department, accompanied by an A & E film crew, threw a flash grenade bomb into the home where 7 year old Aiyana Jones as she slept.  In addition, according to some reports, a gunshot to her head sealed her premature death.

I have organized a group called Justice for Aiyana Committee that will help to stage mass community action events on the one-year anniversary of Aiyana’s death on May 16, 2011.  On this day, we hope to have individuals, block clubs, organizations, schools, etc. to forge a community action event in their communities including concerts, town hall meetings, open mike sessions, musicians playing on streets corners, etc.  We invite the University of Michigan to join this effort.  As such, young Aiyana, by no choosing of her own, became a child martyr.  

Graphic shows shooting of Aiyana according to second autopsy report

In stark contrast, your group, the Universityof Michigan Board of Regents, voted unanimously to allow Michigan Governor Rick Snyder to speak to our future leaders at their graduation ceremonies in May 2011.  Your group also, it is reported, will bestow upon Governor Snyder an honorary doctorate degree.  Not only are these approvals wrong, they fit well into a result that will create even more horrific and dangerous environments that, for instance, cost young Aiyana and countless others a death that came too, too soon. 

More specifically, we are strongly urging this Board to pass a resolution condemning the actions of the City of Detroit, the Detroit Police Department and the A & E Network for their role in the death of Aiyana Jones.  Also, we are strongly urging this Board to rescind the allowance of Governor Snyder to speak to the graduates of the University of Michigan during their May 2011 commencement.  We also strongly urge this Board to rescind giving Governor Snyder an honorary doctorate.

Surely, this Board has a conscience alongside its other admirable traits.  Finally, we strongly urge this Board to act as members of a caring, loving and humane family of individuals.

 Sincerely,

Roland Lawrence, Chairman 

Justice for Aiyana Jones Committee

justice4aiyana@hotmail.com

When will the dream be realized for our children?

Click here for a list of protests.

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By Fidel Castro Ruz -Guest Perspective–
Updated Mar 16, 2011 – 11:37:06 PM

FINALCALL.COM

Demonstration outside federal McNamara Bldg. in Detroit Mar. 11 called by the Michigan Emergency Committee Against War and Injustice

As some people know, in September of 1969, Muammar al-Gaddafi, a Bedouin Arab soldier of unusual character and inspired by the ideas of the Egyptian leader Gamal Abdel Nasser, promoted within the heart of the Armed Forces a movement which overthrew King Idris I of Libya, almost a desert country in its totality, with a sparse population, located to the north of Africa between Tunisia and Egypt.

Libya’s significant and valuable energy resources were progressively being discovered.

Born into the heart of a Bedouin community, nomadic desert shepherds in the region of Tripoli, Gaddafi was profoundly anti-colonialist. It is known that a paternal grandfather died fighting against the Italian invaders when Libya was invaded by the latter in 1911. The colonial regime and fascism changed everyone’s lives. It is likewise said that his father was imprisoned before earning his daily bread as an industrial worker.

Tunisia and Egypt flank Libya on both sides; U.S. wants Libya for base against uprisings in Mideast and Africa

Even Gaddafi’s adversaries confirm that he stood out for his intelligence as a student; he was expelled from high school for his anti-monarchical activities. He managed to enroll in another school and later to graduate in law at the University of Benghazi, aged 21. He then entered the Benghazi Military College, where he created the Union of Free Officers Movement, subsequently completing his studies in a British military academy.

These antecedents explain the notable influence that he later exercised in Libya and over other political leaders, whether or not they are now for or against Gaddafi.

He initiated his political life with unquestionably revolutionary acts.

U.S. Wheelus Air Base, "on the shores of Tripoli"

In March 1970, in the wake of mass nationalist protests, he achieved the evacuation of British soldiers from the country and, in June, the United States vacated the large airbase close to Tripoli, which was handed over to military instructors from Egypt, a country allied with Libya.

In 1970, a number of Western oil companies and banking societies with the participation of foreign capital were affected by the Revolution. At the end of 1971, the same fate befell the famous British Petroleum. In the agricultural sector all Italian assets were confiscated, and the colonialists and their descendants were expelled from Libya.

State intervention was directed toward the control of the large companies. Production in that country grew to become one of the highest in the Arab world. Gambling was prohibited, as was alcohol consumption. The legal status of women, traditionally limited, was elevated.

Stamp from the Great Socialist Peoples Libyan Arab Jamahiriya

The Libyan leader became immersed in extremist theories as much opposed to communism as to capitalism. It was a stage in which Gaddafi devoted himself to theorizing, which would be meaningless to include in this analysis, except to note that the first article of the Constitutional Proclamation of 1969, established the “Socialist” nature of the Libyan Arab Jamahiriya.

What I wish to emphasize is that the United States and its NATO allies were never interested in human rights.

The pandemonium that occurred in the Security Council, in the meeting of the Human Rights Council based in Geneva, and in the UN General Assembly in New York, was pure theater.

I can perfectly comprehend the reactions of political leaders embroiled in so many contradictions and sterile debates, given the intrigue of interests and problems which they have to address.

UN Security Council

All of us are well aware that status as a permanent member, veto power, the possession of nuclear weapons and more than a few institutions, are sources of privilege and self-interest imposed on humanity by force. One can be in agreement with many of them or not, but never accept them as just or ethical measures.

The empire is now attempting to turn events around to what Gaddafi has done or not done, because it needs to militarily intervene in Libya and deliver a blow to the revolutionary wave unleashed in the Arab world. Through now not a word was said, silence was maintained and business was conducted.

Whether a latent Libyan rebellion was promoted by yankee intelligence agencies or by the errors of Gaddafi himself, it is important that the peoples do not let themselves be deceived, given that, very soon, world opinion will have enough elements to know what to believe.

NATO victim of war in Afghanistan

In my opinion, and as I have expressed since the outset, the plans of the bellicose NATO had to be condemned.

Libya, like many Third World countries, is a member of the Non-Aligned Movement, the Group of 77 and other international organizations, via which relations are established independently of economic and social system.

Briefly: the Revolution in Cuba, inspired by Marxist-Leninist and Martí principles, had triumphed in 1959 at 90 miles from the United States, which imposed the Platt Amendment on us and was the proprietor of our country’s economy.

Almost immediately, the empire promoted against our people dirty warfare, counterrevolutionary gangs, the criminal economic blockade and the mercenary invasion of the Bay of Pigs, guarded by an aircraft carrier and its marines ready to disembark if the mercenary force secured certain objectives.

U.S. invasion of Cuba

Barely a year and a half later, it threatened us with the power of its nuclear arsenal. A war of that nature was about to break out.

All the Latin American countries, with the exception of Mexico, took part in the criminal blockade which is still in place, without our country ever surrendering. It is important to recall that for those lacking historical memory.

In January 1986, putting forward the idea that Libya was behind so-called revolutionary terrorism, Reagan ordered the severing of economic and commercial relations with that country.

In March, an aircraft carrier force in the Gulf of Sirte, within what Libya considered its national waters, unleashed attacks which destroyed a number of naval units equipped with rocket launchers and coastal radar systems which that country had acquired in the USSR.

On April 5, a discotheque in West Berlin frequented by U.S. soldiers was the target of a plastic explosives attack, in which three people died, two of them U.S. soldiers, and many people were injured.

U.S. bombing of Libya killed Gadhafi's infant daughter

Reagan accused Gaddafi and ordered the Air Force to respond. Three squadrons took off from 6th Fleet aircraft carriers and bases in the United Kingdom, and attacked with missiles and bombs seven military targets in Tripoli and Benghazi. Some 40 people died, 15 of them civilians. Warned in advance of the bombardments, Gaddafi gathered together his family and was leaving his residence located in the Bab Al Aziziya military complex south of the capital. The evacuation had not been completed when a missile directly hit the residence, his daughter Hanna died and another two of his children were wounded. That act was widely rejected; the UN General Assembly passed a resolution of condemnation given what was a violation of the UN Charter and international law. The Non-Aligned Movement, the Arab League and the OAU did likewise in energetic terms.

On December 21, 1988, a Pan Am Boeing 747 flying from London to New York disintegrated in full flight when a bomb exploded aboard, the wreckage fell on the locality of Lockerbie and the tragedy cost the lives of 270 people of 21 nationalities.

Initially, the United States suspected Iran, in reprisal for the death of 290 people when an Airbus belonging to its state line was brought down. According to the yankees, investigations implicated two Libyan intelligence agents. Similar accusations against Libya were made in the case of the French airline on the Brazzaville-N’Djamena-Paris route, implicating Libyan officials whom Gaddafi refused to extradite for acts that he categorically denied.

A sinister legend was fabricated against him, with the participation of Reagan and Bush Senior.

From 1975 to the final stage of the Regan administration, Cuba dedicated itself to its internationalist duties in Angola and other African nations. We were aware of the conflicts developing in Libya or around her via readings and testimonies from people closely linked to that country and the Arab world, as well as impressions we retained from many figures in different countries with whom we had contact during those years.

Gadhafi has many African allies

Many known African leaders with whom Gaddafi maintained close relations made efforts to find a solution to the tense relations between Libya and the United Kingdom.

The Security Council had imposed sanctions on Libya which began to be overcome when Gaddafi agreed to the trial, under specific conditions, of the two men accused of the plane sabotage over Scotland.

Libyan delegations began to be invited to inter-European meetings. In July 1999 London initiated the reestablishment of full diplomatic relations with Libya after some additional concessions.

In September of that year, European Union ministers agreed to revoke the restrictive trade measures imposed in 1992.

On December 2, Massimo D’Alema, the Italian prime minister, made the first visit to Libya by a European head of government.

Socialist bloc in Europe after WWII

With the disappearance of the USSR and the European socialist bloc, Gaddafi decided to accept the demands of the United States and NATO.

When I visited Libya in May 2001, he showed me the ruins left by the treacherous attack during which Reagan murdered his daughter and almost exterminated his entire family.

In early 2002, the State Department announced that diplomatic talks between the United States and Libya were underway.

In May, Libya was once again included on the list of states sponsoring terrorism although, in January, President George W. Bush had not mentioned the African country in his famous speech on members of the “axis of evil.”

At the beginning of 2003, in accordance with the economic agreement on compensation reached between Libya and the plaintiffs, the United Kingdom and France, the UN Security Council lifted its 1992 sanctions against Libya.

Before the end of 2003, Bush and Tony Blair reported an agreement with Libya, which had submitted documentation to British and U.S. intelligence experts about conventional weapons programs and ballistic missiles with a range of more than 300 kilometers. Officials from both countries had already visited a number of installations. It was the result of many months of conversation between Tripoli and Washington, as Bush himself revealed.

Gaddafi kept his disarmament promises. Within five months Libya handed over the five units of Scud-C missiles with a range of 800 km and hundreds of Scud-B which have a range exceeding the 300 kilometers of defensive short-range missiles.

As of October, 2002, a marathon of visits to Tripoli began: Berlusconi, in October 2002; José María Aznar, in September 2003; Berlusconi again in February, August and October of 2004; Blair, in March of 2004; the German Schröeder, in October of that year; Jacques Chirac, November 2004. Everybody happy. Money talks.

Gaddafi toured Europe triumphantly. He was received in Brussels in April of 2004 by Romano Prodi, president of the European Commission; in August of that year the Libyan leader invited Bush to visit his country; Exxon Mobil, Chevron, Texaco and Conoco Philips established renewed oil extraction operations through joint ventures.

British Petroleum plant

In May of 2006, the United States announced the removal of Libya from its list of nations harboring terrorists and established full diplomatic relations.

In 2006 and 2007, France and the U.S. signed accords for cooperation in nuclear development for peaceful ends; in May, 2007, Blair returned to visit Gaddafi in Sirte. British Petroleum signed a contract it described as “enormously important,” for the exploration of gas fields.

In December of 2007, Gaddafi made two trips to France to sign military and civilian equipment contracts for 10 billion euros, and to Spain where he met with President José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero. Contracts worth millions were signed with important NATO countries.

What has now brought on the precipitous withdrawal of U.S. and other NATO members’ embassies?

It all seems extremely strange.

Bush told West Pointe cadets they must be ready for pre-emptive strikes anywhere in the world

George W. Bush, father of the stupid anti-terrorist war, said on September 20, 2011 to west Point cadets, “Our security will require … the military you will lead, a military that must be ready to strike at a moment’s notice in any dark corner of the world. … to be ready for preemptive action when necessary to defend our liberty and to defend our lives.

“We must root out terrorist cells in 60 countries or more … with our friends and allies, we have to stop their proliferation and confront regimes which harbor or support terrorism, as is required in each case.”

What might Obama think of that speech?

Iraqi father with daughter dead at the hands of the U.S.

What sanctions will the Security Council impose on those who have killed more than a million civilians in Iraq and those who everyday are murdering men, women and children in Afghanistan, where just recently the angry population took to the streets to protest the massacre of innocent children?

An AFP dispatch from Kabul, dated today, March 9, reveals, “Last year was the most lethal for civilians in the nine-year war between the Taliban and international forces in Afghanistan, with almost 2,800 deaths, 15% more than in 2009, a United Nations report indicated on Wednesday, underlining the human cost of the conflict for the population.

“… The Taliban insurrection has intensified and gained ground in these last few years, with guerrilla actions beyond its traditional bastions in the South and East.

“At exactly 2,777, the number of civilian deaths in 2010 increased by 15% as compared to 2009,” the UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan annual report indicated.

U.S. killed these civilians in Afghanistan

“On March 3, President Barack Obama expressed his profound condolences to the Afghan people for the nine children killed, as did U.S. General David Petraeus, commander in chief of the ISAF and Secretary of Defense Robert Gates.

“… The UNAMA report emphasizes that the number of civilian deaths is four times greater than the number of international forces soldiers killed in combat during the same year.

“So far, 2010 has been the most deadly for foreign soldiers in the nine years of war, with 711 dead, confirming that the Taliban’s guerilla war has intensified despite the deployment of 30,000 U.S. reinforcements last year.”

Over the course of 10 days, in Geneva and in the United Nations, more than 150 speeches were delivered about violations of human rights, which were repeated million of times on television, radio, Internet and in the written press.

U.S. is the world's #1 TERRORIST

Cuba’s Foreign Minister Bruno Rodríguez, in his remarks March 1, 2011 before Foreign Relations ministers in Geneva, said:

“Humanity’s conscience is repulsed by the deaths of innocent people under any circumstances, anyplace. Cuba fully shares the worldwide concern for the loss of civilian lives in Libya and hopes that its people are able to reach a peaceful and sovereign solution to the civil war occurring there, with no foreign interference, and guarantee the integrity of that nation.”

Some of the final paragraphs of his speech were scathing.

“If the essential human right is the right to life, will the Council be ready to suspend the membership of states that unleash war?

“Will it suspend states which finance and supply military aid utilized by recipient states for mass, flagrant and systematic violations of human rights and attacks on the civilian population, like those taking place in Palestine?

“Will it apply measures to powerful countries which are perpetuating extra-judicial executions in the territory of other states with the use of high technology, such as smart bombs and drone aircraft?

“What will happen with states which accept secret illegal prisons in their territories, facilitate the transit of secret flights with kidnapped persons aboard, or participate in acts of torture?

We fully share the valiant position of the Bolivarian leader Hugo Chávez and the Bolivarian Alliance for the Peoples of Our America (ALBA).

We are against the internal war in Libya, in favor of immediate peace and respect for the lives and rights of all citizens, without foreign intervention, which would only serve to prolong the conflict and NATO interests. 

Fidel Castro Ruz
March 9, 2011
9:35 p.m.

Attorney Miriam Aukerman

From Atty. Miriam Aukerman 

As many of you know, the Michigan legislature is considering a bill which would bar people with felony drug convictions from receiving food stamps or basic needs assistance for the rest of their lives.  This would seriously undermine the Michigan Prisoner Reentry Initiative,  significantly reduce access to drug and alcohol treatment programs (which often depend on participants’ public benefits to help fund treatment), and make it much more difficult for people with drug  convictions to reenter society. 

"I see my light come shining"

We have written a sign-on letter to alert legislators to the tremendously counterproductive consequences of this proposed change in Michigan law.  We hope that a broad range of organizations and individuals from the law enforcement, corrections, treatment, social service, and advocacy community will sign the letter.  A copy of the letter is attached. (See below for text or click on Letter against lifetime ban on social services for drug offenders to download in Word.) Please forward this request to others in your respective communities who may also support this effort.

Scott Alsgaard of the Reentry Employment Resource Center has kindly agreed to manage the process of collecting sign-on.  If you would like to sign the letter, please send your name, title and organization to Scott at salsgaard@wmrerc.org. It is our understanding that the hearing on this bill will be next Tuesday, March 22nd.  We intend to send the letter on Monday, March 21st, and therefore need all signatures by 5 p.m. on Sunday night.  However, the timing of legislative hearings can change, and we would therefore encourage you to respond as quickly as possible, in case the letter needs to be sent earlier.

Several people have asked about testifying at the hearing.  I will send out additional information about the details of the hearing once it becomes available. 

 Thank you for your support of this effort.

 Sincerely,

Miriam Aukerman, Staff Attorney

West Michigan Regional Office, American Civil Liberties Union of Michigan

89 Ionia NW, Suite 300; Grand Rapids, MI  49503

LETTER AGAINST LIFETIME BAN ON SOCIAL SERVICES FOR DRUG OFFENDERS

March 21, 2011

Rep. Dave Agema (R-Grandville)

Sen. Bruce Caswell (R-Lenawee)

Representative Dave Agema, Chair, House Appropriations SubCommittee – Human Services

Representative Greg MacMaster, Representative Shanelle Jackson, Representative Jon Bumstead, Representative Anthony Forlini, and Representative Rashida Tlaib, Members of the House Appropriations Subcommittee – Human Services

Senator Bruce Caswell, Chair, Senate Appropriations Subcommittee – Human Services

Senator Mark Jansen and Senator Vincent Gregory, Members of the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee – Human Services

Dear Representative Agema, Dear Senator Caswell, Dear Members of the House and Senate Appropriations Subcommittees for Human Services,

Federal study shows treatment reduces drug use and recidivism

We are writing to express our deep concern about the fact that the proposed budget bill for the Department of Human Services’ budget would alter Michigan’s long-standing policy of assisting people with criminal records to reenter the community by providing access to food and basic needs assistance.  We urge you to maintain the current policy, because it is critically important for reducing recidivism, providing access to drug treatment, and enabling people with drug convictions to become productive members of our society.

In 1996, Congress passed federal legislation which provides that people convicted of a felony offense involving the use or sale of drugs are subject to a lifetime ban on receiving cash assistance and food stamps. No one, including pregnant women or people participating in drug treatment, is exempt from the ban. However, Congress also allowed states to opt out of this provision. Every year since then, Michigan has chosen to opt out, thereby ensuring that critically-needed support reaches returning prisoners and other low-income people who are seeking to stabilize their lives. Significantly, only ten states have implemented the federal assistance ban without modification; the others have all recognized that denying food and basic needs assistance is counterproductive.[1] 

Let us briefly highlight some of the most significant problems with the proposed lifetime ban on assistance to people with drug-related felony convictions. 

First, the lifetime drug felony conviction ban will cost Michigan money, not save it.  The food assistance program is entirely federally funded. Michigan will lose otherwise-available federal funds by implementing the food assistance ban. Moreover, the ban will impose additional costs on other social services, as people denied assistance will turn to charities and other state programs for support. For example, parents who are denied benefits may lose their children to the child welfare and foster care systems at a great financial cost to the taxpayer and great emotional cost to the children. Some may turn to crime to support their families and themselves, and inevitably reenter the crowded and costly criminal justice system.

Second, the lifetime ban on assistance will severely undermine the Michigan Prisoner Reentry Initiative. Michigan has been at the forefront, nationally, in recognizing that providing support for prisoners upon release from imprisonment is critical to promoting their successful reintegration into society. MPRI has significantly reduced recidivism, but that success will be jeopardized if prisoners lack access to the food assistance program, which for many is their primary initial source of support when they are seeking to find employment and rebuild their lives after release from imprisonment. Numerous studies have demonstrated that people with drug problems and criminal justice histories need treatment and other supportive services to make the transition to self-sufficiency. The denial of food and basic needs assistance to people convicted of non-violent drug offenses makes it difficult for them to transition out of poverty into productive, crime-free lives. It is precisely for this reason that prosecutors and law enforcement officials in other states have championed repeal of their states’ bans on assistance to people with drug-related convictions.

Treatment works

Third,the lifetime ban on assistance will jeopardize drug and alcohol treatment services.   Many treatment programs depend on public benefits (such as food assistance) to help pay for treatment. Those benefits can constitute a significant source of funding for residential treatment programs, which need them to pay for recipients’ room and board. Loss of these funds could create significant gaps in treatment program budgets, thereby reducing access to substance abuse treatment, and even forcing some programs to close. 

Michigan’s corrections spending of $2 billion is well above the levels found in neighboring Great Lakes states (Graph from Lansing State Journal)

Fourth, the lifetime ban on assistance will undermine the criminal justice system.  

Michigan’s criminal justice system could be severely impacted if we deprive prison and jail diversion programs of the food stamp payments upon which many such programs (particularly residential alcohol and drug abuse treatment programs) depend. Reductions in funding for drug treatment and other forms of prison/jail diversion would mean less access to these programs and more unnecessary incarcerations, which in turn could cost the state of Michigan and local municipalities millions in increased jail, prison and other criminal justice expenses. It also will impede the efforts of drug courts and other initiatives that divert non-violent addicted offenders from prison to treatment.

For all of these reasons, we urge you to restore to the budget bill Michigan’s long-standing provision to opt out of the lifetime ban on assistance to people with drug-related felony convictions. See Attachment A. We are tremendously proud of Michigan’s leadership on reentry. Let us not undermine that progress by preventing people with felony drug convictions who are seeking to reintegrate into their communities from receiving basic sustenance, addiction treatment, and other essentials. 

Attachment A 

Standard Provision of Past Budget Bills Providing for Opt Out from the Lifetime Ban on Assistance for People with Drug Convictions

Sec. 619. The department shall exempt from the denial of title IV-A assistance and food assistance benefits, contained in 21 USC 862a, any individual who has been convicted of a felony that included the possession, use, or distribution of a controlled substance, after August 22, 1996, provided that the individual is not in violation of his or her probation or parole requirements. Benefits shall be provided to such individuals as follows:

(a) A third-party payee or vendor shall be required for any cash benefits provided.

(b) An authorized representative shall be required for food assistance receipt.

• 

  Jason Gibson listens to testimony

   Next officer on scene says Huff arrived first; neighbor said others there earlier 

• Officer who arrested defendant says he saw no weapon
•  Scene totally unsecured hours later; house occupant, friend inside with cops
• Defendant stripped naked in street
• Questions re: neighbor’s connections with cops

By Diane Bukowski 

DETROIT – Conflicting testimony continued during the second and third weeks of the murder trial of Jason Alexander Gibson, 27. He is charged with killing Detroit police officer Brian Huff last May and wounding other officers, along with multiple weapons and marijuana possession counts. 

The week of Mar. 7 began with the testimony of officers who were wounded during the shoot-out. 

Off. John Dunlap

TESTIMONY MARCH 7

On Mar.7, undercover Detroit police officer John Dunlap took the stand and immediately contradicted what was said Mar. 3 by civilian Paul Jameson, who lived next door to 20263 Schoenherr, where the shootings took place.

“I was partnered with Officer Bryan Glover, in a black unmarked four-door truck,” Dunlap said. He identified a photo of Black pick-up truck, which shows it parked in front of Jameson’s house at 20251 Schoenherr during the events. Dunlap said they arrived in response to a “B & E, shots fired” call. 

Prosecutor Thomas Trczinski asked him if there were other officers present when he arrived. 

Dunlap said the others at the scene were Huff and his partner Joseph D’Angelo, who had arrived in a white marked police SUV parked in the driveway of 20263 Schoenherr.. He said its “overhead” lights were on. 

Jameson testified Mar. 3 that other officers were on the scene PRIOR to Huff’s arrival. 

“I saw officers gathering in front,” Jameson said. “Officer Huff was coming on the scene then. He kind of like took charge. He was rallying people behind him, in uniform, then pretty much looking through a crack in the door. Two or three officers were close behind. I think he was the only one on the porch. . . . I remember Huff looking back and asking, ‘Are you guys ready?’” 

A friend of Jameson’s, who has known him since 1998, told VOD that he is not only a military veteran, as he testified, but an ex-cop, and that he works for the Detroit Department of Transportation as a contractor. 

Danielle Yvette Berry-Jameson (from Facebook page)

Jameson’s wife Danielle said last year in published remarks that she has a brother and an aunt who are Detroit police officers and that they were stationed at the ninth precinct along with Huff. She also told The Detroit News that her brother guarded the defendant, Gibson, at the hospital after the events. (See sidebar: WHO IS PAUL JAMESON?) 

She added that their house had seven surveillance cameras posted around it, but that officers who looked at the camera tapes found “nothing.” 

A highly-placed former police administration source has said the duplex was a police-operated drug house. 

“D’Angelo was towards the side of the house,” Dunlap said, “and Huff was on the right side of the front door.” 

He said he took a position in front of the north side of the duplex, and that Huff “communicated” with him. 

Duplex at 20263 Schoenherr; memorial is at doorway where Officer Brian Huff was killed

“Officer Huff pushes the door the remaining way open,” Dunlap said. “He announces ‘Police’ and steps through the door and begins his entry. I hear three shots from the interior of the house. There is no gap, they are one after the other. I observe Officer Huff fall to the ground. He is lying on the inside of the doorway.” 

Dunlap said he saw Gibson run out of the house after Huff was shot. He stood and demonstrated Gibson’s alleged stance, holding his own left arm straight out and pointing his hand at Trzcinski about 15 feet away. 

“When the defendant first comes into view, he raises his arm up at me and fires a shot,” Dunlap said. “For a second, he was stationary before he moved south.” 

Defense attorney Susan Reed noted for the record that Dunlap had raised his left arm. Trzcinski then asked Dunlap if he knew what arm Gibson was using, and he said “No.” Gibson has been taking notes with his right hand during the trial, and Dunlap said he himself shoots right-handed. 

“I begin to back up and to return fire,” Dunlap said. He said he had his gun out but it was not pointed at Gibson at first. 

He said he fell to the ground on his back after firing his weapon an unknown number of times. He said Gibson continued to run “south to the left,” parallel to the front of the house. He said he heard other shots, but could not tell where they were coming from/ He then realized he had been shot and was conveyed to the hospital. 

On cross exam by Reed, Dunlap said he passed by Huff to take his position, and that only he, Glover, Huff and Huff’s partner Joseph D’Angelo were there when he arrived, “that I was aware of.” 

He said he could not recall if either he and Glover or other officers called in on the police radio to say they were backing up the call. He said that although it was a “shots fired” call, Huff did not have his weapon out. 

Undercover officer Christopher Champagne at preliminary

Officer Christopher Champagne, on the force for four and a half years, then took the stand, looking nervous and at first using a low voice. He said he was in a black unmarked Crown Victoria as part of a B&E task force and that Officer Ernie Harris was his partner. 

Champagne said Huff was on the ground outside the house with several officers around him when they arrived, in response to an “officer down” call. 

“We made our way to the south side of the house where we saw the defendant on the fence handcuffed,” Champagne said. He said Gibson was inside the fence, but he remained on the outside. He said Harris went inside the yard and obtained a semiautomatic handgun that was lying “about a foot away” from Gibson’s head, and gave it to Champagne. He said the weapon and its magazine were empty when he turned it in as evidence. 

Fence Gibson was handcuffed to

He identified a silver and black handgun with its serial number obliterated as the weapon they retrieved. Champagne said he then entered the house on all three levels to clear it, and then used yellow crime scene tape to secure the scene. 

On cross-exam, Champagne said he did not hear a “shots fired” call prior to the “officer down” call. He said he and Harris parked their car behind the black pick-up truck driven by Dunlap and Glover. He told Reed a third officer, Sgt. Rayshaun (sp?) Gaines, also entered the backyard to retrieve the  gun. 

“You were not there when the gun was put there or dropped there or anything, right?” Reed asked. Champagne said “No.”  He also said he did not know how the gun got there. He said his partner “threw” the gun to him, but changed that testimony to “handed it” on re-direct by Trzcinski. 

During his testimony, and that of other witnesses, the officer in charge, who has assisted Trzcinski throughout the trial, exited the courtroom and entered the witness room several times, spending a few minutes there each time. 

Huff's partner Joseph D'Angelo at preliminary exam

Huff’s partner D’Angelo, a 17-year-old veteran of the force, followed Champagne to the stand. He had shaved off his thick moustache and cut his hair, which appeared to have grayed more since the preliminary exam last June. 

D’Angelo arrested Gibson, handcuffing him to the fence on the south side of the duplex. He confirmed his testimony from the preliminary that he saw no gun near the defendant, even though he illuminated him with his flashlight. 

D’Angelo said that individual night was only the fourth time that he and Huff had partnered with each other, because their regular partners were “not available.” He said Jameson told him that someone was going out the back of the house. 

However, Jameson testified Mar. 3 that he had checked the backyard of the house and found it to be secure, with no one there, and no window screen out, before he went to the front yard of his own house. 

In a hoarse voice, D’Angelo said he ran to the backyard, and jumped the chain link fence. He said the windows on the side of the house were boarded up, and the side door was barred. He said he noticed that the upstairs window screen in back was on the ground, but saw no one in the yard. He said he was using his department-issued flashlight. D’Angelo said he called to Huff that it was a “good B&E” as opposed to a false alarm, and that he could see Huff in front of the house as he talked to him. 

“Then I heard him yell ‘police,’” D’Angelo said, and began crying. “He’s at the front door, I’m at the corner, I hear several gunshots.” 

He said his first reaction was to take cover, and he turned to go back to the rear of the house, then stopped and turned to go around to the front. 

 “At the same time, I saw an individual going out of the house, and saw the individual jump the fence,” D’Angelo said. “At first I thought it was my partner.” 

Officer Brian Huff in candid shot

D’Angelo, who said his height is 6 feet, 3 inches, and weight 220 lbs, said Huff was shorter than he but “two to three times my girth, a very large man.” Gibson is tall, broad-shouldered but slenderly built. 

D’Angelo said he noticed he was shot when he saw “the individual” coming from around the front of the house. He said he couldn’t tell if the individual had a gun. 

“The individual fell over the fence literally in front of me,” he said, and identified Gibson in the courtroom. “I illuminated him with my flashlight and realized it was just a suspect and someone getting away. He was sitting on his derriere with his back against the fence, his right hand at his side and his left hand in front of his chest. I had the individual raise his left hand, then his right hand.” 

Undated Google map photo of side of 20263 Schoenherr shows south side of house not boarded up; it is unclear why the lower windows and door were boarded up by May, 2010, despite alleged occupancy by Lawrence Bolling (see photo at right above which shows house at time of Huff's murder)

D’Angelo said he used two pairs of handcuffs to secure Gibson’s hands to the fence in a “Y” formation, then went to the front of the house to help with his partner and clear the house before he was driven to the hospital. 

D’Angelo identified a photo of a gunshot wound in the inside of his right leg, just short of his groin. He said he had his gun out but never fired it. 

On cross-exam, D’Angelo said “other officers” were with Huff at the time he talked to him, but that he didn’t remember who, how many, and whether they were African-American or Caucasian, although they were male. He said he didn’t see any “flashes of light” as the “individual” came towards him, and did not see the individual shoot at him. 

He said  he saw no weapon when he handcuffed Gibson to the fence, and that if he had seen it, he would have moved it away from Gibson. 

Kaspar Harrison shows where he was shot as he ran north on Schoenherr away from house

Officer Kaspar Harrison, a four-year DPD veteran who was partnered with Officer Stephen Schram, said they were the primary unit dispatched, on a “shots fired in an unoccupied dwelling” call. He contradicted Dulap’s testimony, saying he said he did see Huff on the porch, 

“Officer Huff turned around and said someone was still in the location,” Harrison said. “I took my weapon out of my holster, under the impression he was getting ready to clear the house. Officer Huff turned around and asked ‘Are you ready,’ and made entrance into the house as he announced ‘police. As soon as he made entry, I heard two or three shots inside, boom, boom, boom.” 

Harrison said he took a position at the intersection of the walkway to the duplex and the sidewalk. He said a barrage of gunfire then began, while he tried to figure out what was going on. 

“There were flares coming from the doorway of the unoccupied dwelling, the right hand side door that’s barred up in the photo”  He identified the doorway of 20265, north of the side of the duplex that Huff had entered. He said that he could see “pretty much throughout the house” but did not see Huff’s body. 

“Then I see someone running out of the location,” he testified, but said he only saw a “shadow.” He said he could not see if the person was a man or a woman, and did not identify Gibson in the courtroom. He said his view was blocked by officers Dunlap and Glover, among others. 

Harrison said he ran north up the sidewalk looking for cover and was shot in the arm. He said he fell forward and hurt his face and teeth when he hit concrete, in the process accidentally discharging his gun. He said he was in the hospital for three days with a broken arm and did not return to work until after Christmas. 

On cross-exam, he told Reed that Huff, D’Angelo and Dunlap were the only three officers he saw when he arrived on the scene. Reed had him read his testimony at the preliminary exam, during which he said that the figure coming from the doorway was running west towards him, and then he didn’t see him anymore. 

That testimony conflicted with Dunlap’s, who said Gibson ran south towards the side of the house. 

TESTIMONY MAR. 8

Officer Huff's wife Melissa Huff said his last text to her at 3:15 a.m. was that he had to turn off his phone to take a breaking and entering run; 911 call was not taken until 3:34 a.m.

On Mar. 8, long-awaited bombshell testimony, the actual 911 tape of the call made by Danielle Jameson, wife of Paul Jameson, was presented. It was earlier unsuccessfully sought by reporters through Freedom of Information Act requests, Many had questioned why Officer Huff, a 12 year veteran, would have entered the home with his gun in its holster if he had received a “shots fired” call. 

His wife Melissa Huff told reporters during a break in the proceedings that she and her husband had been texting each other all night, and that Huff told her at about 3:15 a.m. that he had to turn his phone off because he had a “breaking and entering” run. 

Danielle Jameson took the stand to verify the tape of the call. 

“I was asleep in my bedroom on the second floor, and I heard a loud crash and bang,” Danielle Jameson testified. “I wasn’t sure what it was. My husband told me to call the police. I grabbed my cell phone and called 911.” 

Trzcinski then played a recording of the call, in which the operator is heard identifying the date and time as May 3, 2010 at 3:34 a.m. There is a long pause after the operator says “911, what is your emergency,” repeating herself several times. Then Jameson is heard identifying her address. 

Paul Jameson, husband of Danielle

“I’m next door to the neighbor and I hear shots in the house, I never lived in there,” Jameson says.” She says the house is vacant and describes the building and describes the shots as a “pop, pop, pop,” and says she thinks the sounds are from inside the house. The operator says she will notify police. 

Her husband testified earlier that he heard “kicks” or “thumps” at the house, but did not mention gunfire. 

Jameson said she was walking downstairs to check on her children as she was making the call. 

“I asked my son where did Dad go, and he said he went outside,” Jameson said. “After I checked on my daughter, I looked out the window on the first floor closest to the house. I saw my husband just walking around towards the front porch. Then I heard a lot of shots.” 

Jameson said after telling her son to watch the couple’s daughter, who is physically and mentally disabled, she went back upstairs to look out the window closest to the house. 

“I saw my husband outside on the grass doing what looked like CPR on someone,” Jameson said. She then went back downstairs to reassure her daughter and said she saw flashing lights from police cars, but couldn’t say how many were there. 

On cross, Jameson told Reed she wasn’t sure if she had heard shots fired before making the 911 call, but that she did tell police in her statement that shots were fired. She said she was not sure if she saw her husband with police officers before the shootings occurred. She was asked if he took his gun when he left the house. 

“I know my husband, he’s going to make sure he’s safe,” she said. 

She said she saw no one shooting when she looked outside the upstairs window the second time. 

According to her Facebook page, Jameson works at a casino. She posted a comment to her husband on the page: “You’ve been MY HERO since the 80’s. So sorry for Ofc. Huff’s wife & son. I still feel semi responsible for his death but you Paul, are the bravest-take charge-inest man I know and a great role model for our Paul III. I love you always ♥ “ 

During the rest of the day and on Mar. 11, Trzcinski took testimony from various forensic personnel, a federal agent, and finally from the EMS technician who tried to revive Huff. His was emotional testimony which Trzcinski saved for the end before the jury’s break for the week-end. 

EMT Michael Liagre

The federal agent, Michael Deventier of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives IATFE), identified 36 items of evidence, which included firearms, bullets and shell casings given to him by the Detroit Police. He said he took the evidence to the ATFE lab in Ammendale, Maryland and later returned it to Detroit police. Two separate lists were entered into evidence, one which was a receipt FROM the Detroit police for the return of the items, and one which was the ATFE’s own list of the items. 

On cross, Reed pointed out discrepancies between the lists, which Deventier said resulted from different methods used by local police and the feds to identify evidence. She asked Deventier if he could identify which bullets and shell casings came from which guns, and he said he couldn’t. It was unclear from his testimony exactly what analysis was done by the ATFE. 

Gruesome testimony from Detroit Fire Department paramedic Michael Liagre rounded out the day. 

Liagre said he knew Huff, referring to him as Brian, and other officers on the scene. He testified that when he arrived, a man he assumed to be a police officer but later discovered was neighbor Paul Jameson, was performing chest compressions on Huff. Liagre said Huff’s sidearm was still in its holster. 

When he and his partner got Huff into the EMS vehicle, he said they immediately began resuscitation efforts, but could not intubate Huff, one of only two times in his 13-year career he was unable to do so. Huff had been shot twice, once in the cheek and once in the jaw, according to his autopsy report. 

Photo shows concrete porch and steps which Jameson and another officer dragged Officer Huff down by the legs while he was lying on his stomach

“There was so much blood, so much lung tissue,” Liagre said. “Because of the damage created by the path of the bullet, there was no structure left in his face. There was nothing left to pull or push on to explore his airway.” 

Jameson testified earlier that he and another officer pulled Huff, who weighed around 400 pounds, by his legs out of the house to the lawn before Jameson began CPR attempts. Jameson said Huff was “on his belly,” meaning his face likely hit the concrete porch and steps before they laid him on the lawn. They then attempted to shove him into his police car to take him to the hospital instead of waiting for the paramedics, who arrived within minutes. 

Danielle Jameson’s call of “shots fired,” was at 3:34 a.m., some minutes before Huff even arrived on the scene. Liagre said his unit made the scene at 3:47 a.m., and that by 3:55 a.m., Huff was “asystole,” or flat-lined, likely dead, but that they continued resuscitation attempts. 

Trzcinski ended that day’s testimony by reading a stipulated statement into the record, signed by himself, Reed and Gibson, indicating that Gibson was a convicted felon and “had no right to possess or use a firearm” 

Judge Hathaway asked whether it addressed a specified felony, which it did not. 

Judge Cynthia Gray Hathaway

It was unclear if the statement was a substitute for Trzcinski’s proposed introduction of testimony from police officers involved in two of Gibson’s earlier arrests, one of which has not yet been adjudicated. In both cases, he was stopped on the street and searched by officers who claimed he resembled suspects in crimes committed hours earlier. The stops were of questionable legality. Judge Gray-Hathaway, however, allowed the testimony to be introduced.  

Reed argued at a hearing in November that the incidents showed Gibson did not confront police, but ran from them instead. 

Testimony resumed Monday Mar. 14 which drastically contradicted earlier versions of events and contrasted EMS personnel’s treatment of Huff and Gibson, who was wounded in the left buttock during the events. Testimony has not yet shown who shot him. 

EMS technician Steven Hazelett said he treated Gibson at the scene, after first finding him standing on the curb outside the house with police officers. He said he stripped Gibson naked OUTSIDE the EMS vehicle, which was parked in the middle of Schoenherr. 

“I cut off all his clothing, and a green leafy substance had fallen out somewhere, from his upper half when I cut off his shirt,” Hazelett said. He said his unit received the call at 3:52 a.m. and arrived on the scene at 3:58 a.m. That was three minutes after Huff had gone “asystole” in Liagre’s ambulance, according to that technician’s testimony. 

Lawrence Bolling

Hazelett said he left the clothing in the street before putting Gibson in the ambulance, and identified a photo earlier placed into evidence which showed clothing in the street, along with a gallon-size bag of purported marijuana. It is unclear how officers Dunlap, who arrested Gibson, and handcuffed him to the fence, and Champagne, Harris and Gaines, who took him to the street curb, missed such a large item in his shirt. 

Testimony given earlier by Tonya Wright, who lived across from where the clothes were left, also contradicted Hazelett’s testimony. 

By Brian E. Muhammad -Contributing Writer- THE FINAL CALL
Updated Mar 8, 2011 – 11:54:59 AM

Supporters of Libyan government demonstrate Mar. 8; current reports indicate that Gadhafi's forces are now retaking much of the country held by rebels supported by the West

(FinalCall.com) – A wave of revolts that engulfed countries in North Africa and the Middle East which deposed the long time presidents of Tunisia and Egypt has entered the Socialist People’s Libyan Arab Great Jamahiriya in the form of a civil war, threatening the leadership of Muammar Gadhafi who came to power amid a bloodless coup in 1969.

However the historic response of the Western world to Libya was notably hostile, wrought with vitriolic personal attacks against Col. Gadhafi and outward calls for assassination, military intervention and a failed assassination.

Political critics lambasted U.S. President Barack Obama for reacting too slow to the unfolding drama in Libya; albeit when he did react, it was different from the soft peddle diplomacy he used for Egypt’s Hosni Mubarak and King Hamad Bin Isa Al-Khalifa of Bahrain—where America maintains a military base guarding oil routes through the Suez Canal. In comparison the Obama administration’s dealings with Col. Gadhafi were particularly harsh. In a March 3 press conference, President Obama addressed the situation in the North African country by calling on Col. Gadhafi to step down and exit Libya.

Map of Libya and Africa

“Muammar Gadhafi has lost the legitimacy to lead and he must leave; those who perpetrate violence against the Libyan people will be held accountable,” President Obama said.

To some observers, the president’s words were an eerie reminder of the language used by his predecessor, former President George W. Bush, in prelude to American aggression on Iraq. In March, 2003, Mr. Bush gave Saddam Hussein an ultimatum—vacate Iraq in two days or else.

“Saddam Hussein and his sons must leave Iraq within 48 hours. Their refusal to do so will result in military conflict, commenced at a time of our choosing,” Mr. Bush warned after laying out a case for invasion and subsequent occupation.

Some analysts disagree with President Obama’s message to the Libyan leader, saying it highlights a double standard within U.S. foreign policy.

U.S. VP Joe Biden (r) with Israeli government official

“Obama should focus on some other things, like the Israelis should leave the occupied territories; I think that would be a much better thing for President Obama to talk about,” said Bill Fletcher Jr., senior scholar for the Institute for Policy Studies in Washington, D.C.

“It would be much better for President Obama to talk about how the U.S. should not be spending money trying to destabilize the government of President Hugo Chavez in Venezuela,” he told The Final Call in a telephone interview.

Furthermore, Mr. Fletcher sees the Libyan conflict as a “family problem” that the United States and other countries should stay clear of. Because of America’s involvement in Iraq and Afghanistan he is “skeptical” about armed intervention in Libya other than humanitarian assistance, evacuations or perhaps air support for the rebel forces. But questions loom if the Libyan opposition are united on accepting outside military involvement.

General David Patraeus greets Pres. Barack Obama in Iraq; Patraeus is now commander of forces in Afghanistan

“I am not convinced that the U.S. is in a position to do it, given Iraq and Afghanistan,” Mr. Fletcher opined, adding, “I think it’s important that the U.S. and the E.U.(European Union) stay out of the situation; this is an internal Libyan matter regardless of whether someone happens to side with Gadhafi or against him,” he said.

Pundits debating how the U.S. government should react to the events in Libya are torn between financing and arming the rebels, imposing a “no fly zone” or waiting because they admittedly don’t know exactly who the opposition is. This dilemma punctures the U.S. verbal posture supporting the will of the Libyan people when their real concern appears to be about vital national interests like oil.

For now as deliberations continue, other avenues of pressure on Libya are being explored; Secretary of State Hillary Clinton is seeking to reopen the Lockerbie case— where an American passenger jet was bombed over Scotland in 1988, killing 270 people—with the intention of investigating and arresting more people and holding Muammar Gadhafi personally liable. Abdelbaset Ali el-Megrahi, a Libyan national was tried and convicted for the incident and later released in 2009 on compassionate grounds, suffering prostate cancer.

At the United Nations, Libya was assessed a temporary suspension from the UN Human Rights Council based on alleged rights abuses against protesters. The Geneva-based council is charged with strengthening the promotion and protection of human rights around the globe. The action was coupled with U.S. and UN Security Council sanctions on Col. Gadhafi, his family and some members of government that includes an arms embargo, a travel ban and asset freeze. The UN also agreed to refer the case to the International Criminal Court at The Hague to investigate and prosecute possible crimes against humanity. However countries like Russia and Venezuela cautioned that any propositions on the table such as the U.S./Britishled idea for a “no fly zone” over Libya should not be arbitrarily implemented.

Muammar Gadhafi with Hugo Chavez, President of Venezuela

“A decision such as this one could only take place after a genuine investigation,” advised Venezuelan Ambassador Jorge Valero.

Meanwhile an AP report said Libya has accepted a proposal from Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez to organize an International Mediation group of friendly nations to negotiate an end to the civil war.

The idea won support in Caracas meeting of nations belonging to the Venezuela-led Bolivarian Alternative bloc (ALBA). AP said Cuba, Ecuador, Bolivia, Nicaragua, Dominica, St. Vincent and the Grenadines gave commitments of support for the group.

There is general agreement that the regional uprisings stem from legitimate quests by the people for social and political reform, making their cause palpable for global support. It is also clear that the regimes that fell were longtime U.S. allies who perpetrated wrongs with at least the tacit, if not direct, approval and support from America—including millions in financial and military assistance.

However, in Libya’s case, reporting filtered through corporate media from CNN, Al- Jazeera and Fox News manifested “support for the people of Libya,” while constantly leveling often unsubstantiated charges at its leader.

“They are trying to do this whole low intensive propaganda warfare against the citizens of the United States, especially the negative assault against Gadhafi ,” said Dedon Kimathi, a political analyst with the All African Peoples’ Revolutionary Party- Guinea Conakry.

“We have to be careful of the devil’s manipulation in media to have the world that watch and listen to U.S. media as their sole source of information to create a hysteric climate that we think Gadhafi is the next Hitler,” Mr. Kimathi said.

Revolutionary African leaders Patrice Lumumba and Kwame Nkrumah

Though defined for years as a rogue regime by American and British media and political figures, Mr. Gadhafi has a different reputation among liberation movements and in much of Africa. Millions see Libya’s leader as a powerful defender of the weak and oppressed. “We have to put it in historical context that Libya and the Jamahiriya revolution has been the most revolutionary African country since the CIA overthrow of Osagyefo Kwame Nkrumah (of Ghana), in terms of Pan-Africanism,” said Mr. Kimathi. Mr. Kimathi gave credit to Mr. Gadhafi for his political work around reviving the vision for a United States of Africa and transforming the former Organization of African Unity into the current African Union (AU). He also pointed out the “political and concrete material” support the Libyan leader gave to liberation movements and progressive organizations across the African continent and the world, including in the United States.

Palestinian youth join demonstration in Dearborn supporting Egyptian uprising

Libya supported the Irish Republican Army, South Africa’s anti-apartheid movements—the African National Congress and Pan African Congress—the freedom fighters in Mozambique and the Palestinian liberation struggle to name a few causes.

Libya has also been a friend to the Nation of Islam and other progressive groups within the U.S. In 1971 Mr. Gadhafi loaned the Nation of Islam under the leadership of the Honorable Elijah Muhammad $3 million to purchase a Greek Orthodox Church in Chicago.

Mr. Muhammad converted the edifice into a mosque which is the national headquarters for the Nation of Islam. In the rebuilding efforts of the Honorable Minister Louis Farrakhan in the 1980s, Mr. Gadhafi gave a $5 million loan— which he then forgave—to aid an N.O.I. economic initiative called P.O.W.E.R. (People Organized and Working for Economic Rebirth).

King Idris of Libya, 1966

Mr. Kimathi pointed out that the Western destabilization campaign against Libya has been ongoing since the beginning of Mr. Gadhafi ’s leadership. As a visionary Mr. Gadhafi transformed the oil rich country into a popular people’s democracy, eradicating policies driven by the multinational corporations who exploited Libya’s resources. When he rose to eminence 41 years ago leading the Al-Fateh revolution against King Idriss—a minion of western imperialists—the young revolutionary nationalized the economy for the benefit and development of the Libyan people.

Then he evicted the Americans and the British by shutting down the Wheelus military base in Tripoli which he condemned as a remnant of European colonialism.

On the international political stage where good men often die young, Mr. Gadhafi has withstood the test of time, becoming a major power broker in Europe and in Africa. “Brother Gadhafi ” as he is known is in a small group of leaders—which include former Cuban leader Fidel Castro— who have the distinction of withstanding their imperialistic foes. Mr. Gadhafi was personanon-grata for every U.S. administration from President Richard Nixon to President Bill Clinton—until the warming of relations at the end of the George W. Bush administration.

USS Ponce, named after Spanish invader of what became Puerto Rico Ponce de Leon

USS Ponce insignia

As of now the battle is between old internal enemies that escalated into a civil war to bring Mr. Gadhafi down. However The Wall Street Journal online noted U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates announced he had ordered to the Mediterranean the USS Ponce and the USS Kearsarge, an amphibious assault vessel designed to carry infantrymen and troop-transport helicopters. The report said the ships currently have 800 Marines, in addition to 400 U.S.-based Marines who will be airlifted to meet the ships. The ships would be ready to perform evacuations and humanitarian relief, he said. The fear is, however, that with war hawks and Libya haters in Congress and elsewhere demanding arming Libyans opposed to Col. Gadhafi that U.S. troops could end up on the ground. Not everyone is happy with that prospect.

“I think (U.S.) military intervention would be terrible and we should oppose it,” said Mr. Fletcher.

Related news:

Al Qathafi Seeking UN, AU Probe into Libyan Unrest (Tripoli Post, 03-06-2011)

Libya Appoints New Ambassador to UN (Tripoli Post, 03-05-2011)

Libya Govt Accepts Chavez Mediation Plan, But Not the Rebels, Reports say (Tripoli Post, 03-04-2011)

Who is Muammar Gaddafi? (SHOAH, 03-04-2011)

Massive Disinformation War against Libya for US/West Military Intervention? [The 4th Media] (03-01-2011)

Libya rejects Al Jazeera report it “bombed protesters”, use of mercenaries (Al Jazeera, 02-22-2011)

mercenaries (Al Jazeera, 02-22-2011)

Fidel Catro: NATO’s plan is to occupy Libya (Granma, 02-21-2011)

Dr. John Telford. educator, athlete, author

By Dr. John Telford 

One of the most egregious incidents of racism in a suburban school setting in Michigan occurred recently.  I’m not referring to the well-publicized wars of the 1980s and 1990s I waged with raucous community racists in Rochester when I decided to become a one-man affirmative action department pioneering the hire of Black principals and directors in Oakland County. 

I’m also not referring to the equally well-publicized battles I fought in 2009 against resident racists in Madison Heights District Public Schools before I was fired in front of whirring TV cameras for bringing in hundreds of DPS students during my brief stint there as the oldest superintendent in the United States.  

No—I’m talking about a far less publicized racist incident that happened in the all-white Howell school district around the same time as my somewhat similar Madison incident, but it had its origins three years earlier.  Dr. Charles Breiner has confirmed that as Howell superintendent in 2006, he recruited Robert Thomas—the stellar DPS administrator who won three Outstanding Educator Awards as assistant principal at Murray-Wright—to become the principal of a new high school that was being built in Howell.  There were construction delays, so Breiner temporarily assigned Thomas to a middle school assistant principalship until the building could be completed.  Thomas then became the district’s first Black administrator. 

Educator Robert Thomas

When word got out to the Howell school staff and community that their liberal superintendent had selected a Black man from Detroit to become the new school’s principal, parents withheld their children from enrolling in the still unfinished structure.  Thus, there wouldn’t be enough students coming in for it to open. 

The progressive superintendent was summarily fired, and prospective principal Thomas was told to find work elsewhere.  He sought to return to DPS but was advised that we were only hiring administrators who were bilingual, which Mr. Thomas isn’t—and the bottom had dropped out of the state budget, so there was little work to be had in most districts. 

Mr. Thomas informs me that one day his principal came to him and told him she had been ordered to fabricate an unsatisfactory evaluation of him to get him out of Howell without further delay, and if he ever told anyone about this she would have to deny it or lose her job. 

After Howell unjustly terminated Mr. Thomas in 2009, he learned that for the years he was there he had been underpaid, while White administrators at the same level were paid more.  The Howell district fought to deny him unemployment compensation but lost because it couldn’t prove the untrue allegations regarding his job performance.  As a result, Thomas says, “The Howell district has been on a campaign to blackball me in the tri-county area.” 

Auction of KKK items in Howell a few years ago created an uproar; the town tried to counteract its image as the home of Robert Miles, Michigan KKK leader afterwards; apparently racism is still rampant there

This past summer, Thomas was a finalist for several administrative positions in Oakland and Macomb Counties.  After they contacted Howell, he was dropped from consideration.  He had someone pose as an employer and call Howell about his qualifications.  His “plant” was told falsely that he was “less than qualified” to administrate, but “the kids loved him.”  Being good with kids is of course essential.   Coach Robert Glenn, who taught Bob Thomas in junior high and later worked with him and for him, says he was one of DPS’ best.  Some lucky school district should hire Thomas fast.  In the meantime, he also needs to call Geoffrey Fieger. 

Get Dr. Telford’s explosive autobiography and his newest book, What OLD MEN Know, at www.AlifeontheRUN.com.  Write him at 8900 E. Jefferson, #624, Detroit 48214.

(L to R) JROTC cadet Ryan Field, Southeastern choir members Nicole Smith, Demitri Murphy, Porsha Jackson, Chiyo Williams, Leroy Lewis

After three walk-outs, sit-in, they compete in state festival

By Diane Bukowski

DETROIT – As the music, arts and drama programs of Detroit Public Schools are eliminated, some students are not taking it lying down. Members of Southeastern High School’s choir won authorization to compete in the Michigan School Vocal Music Association Choral Festival, held Mar. 11, but only after students walked out three times and held a press conference Mar. 9.,

“We’ve been practicing for this whole year, but then they took our music teacher away a month ago, and we were disqualified,” said Porsha Jackson, a soprano vocalist and president of the choir. “Robert Bobb doesn’t care about us, about the young people. We study hard all day, and music is our outlet. I have a music scholarship; we just want our music program back.”

Southeastern police confer

During the press conference, Leroy Lewis was notified by Southeastern’s Principal, Sean Vann (brother of the Rev. Edgar Vann), that he would after all authorize the choir to compete despite the lack of their teacher. Lewis said he and several other students had gone to the principal’s office after the press release went out.

“I’m in the choir and drama, and they both were cut,” Lewis, who is a tenor singer and wants to be an actor, said. “But we’re prepared to keep fighting. We want a first-class education just like students in the Grosse Pointe schools. It’s not just Southeastern. It’s all the schools, even Detroit Science and Arts (DSA), which have had their arts programs cut. We already had a series of three walk-outs of about a hundred students, and a sit-in at Southeastern. DPS police maced the kids in the sit-in. heavily. We don’t have anything, the classes are full, and they’ve laid off all but three of our English teachers, but we’re planning more fightbacks.”

Robotics products

DPS police appeared on the scene in the midst of the press conference, ready to force the students off the covered porch of the school into heavy rain, but the police eventually backed off and left.

Lewis said funding for Southeastern’s robotics team, which ranks number three in the state, has also been cut. Go to

http://wn.com/Robotics_at_Michigan_State_University to watch robotics teams in action.

“Music is my life,” Nicole Smith said. “I have lived and breathed music ever since I was six years old. Once they take out music, how are we going to relieve our stress? They’re messing up our credits and everything.”

While the choir students were speaking, members of the Frederick Douglass Junior ROTC team joined the group. They said they had been denied permission to use the gym for their weekly Wednesday inspection, despite the fact they have been using it at that time for a year.

“The principal tried to hold us back from the JROTC academic competition too, but he had to back off because we wrote a letter,” said JROTC student Ryan Fielder. “We are done with being treated like we are worthless, like our talents and aspirations don’t matter or like all we are is a low score on a standardized test. We are the equals of every other student in Michigan and have a right to a decent education and to be treated with respect.”

BAMN leader Tabrion Joe heads chants as students join with city workers to protest cuts in services, education

Monica Smith (shown above at left in earlier protest at WSU), an organizer for By Any Means Necessary (BAMN) was at the press conference with the students. She said that as a result of their press release, an organization had volunteered funds for the choir’s bus to the Mar. 11 competition, which was to be held at St. Joseph Episcopal Church in Detroit.

She also said that the students’ choir teacher, who was transferred to Catherine Ferguson Academy but only works four days a week there, volunteered to act as their conductor at the competition.

The elimination of music, drama, ROTC, robotics and numerous other programs all over DPS, as well as the closing of 100 schools and massive lay-offs, are included in the revised deficit elimination plan for DPS for 2011-14, which has been approved and is being enforced by the State Superintendent of Schools. (See story to be published tomorrow on details.)

But all the students at the press conference left afterwards to go to a meeting to plan further actions against this assault on the children of Detroit.

BAMN students led march down Woodward from WSU to CAYMC as part of National Day of Protest to Defend Public Education Mar. 2